Wordless Wednesday: Lost in Thought..

This face scares me... what is he scheming??

Birthday Party Success!

The Barnyard Birthday Party day came & went so fast! And we all had a blast!

In total we had 18 kiddos under 4 (plus all their parents) come to play! Believe it or not, even with all the little ones it wasn’t too stressful and I managed to squeeze in a bit of mingling and lots of photo snappin’.

(I did miss 1 photo that I meant to take.. I really wanted to do a group shot of all the tots…but I totally spaced : / )

The Barnyard Theme was a HIT!

(My E only screamed for 10 minutes when I made him put on these CUTE farmer overalls. I had a plaid shirt as well .. but there was no way he was letting me get that on him too...)

Enjoying 1 of the many cookies of the day..

The Loot bags we made

The table partially set up

The Petting Zoo was AMAZING!

I can’t stop raving about Little Tracks TRAVELLING petting zoo 

Not only did they show up on time and have everything set up before anyone showed up (my kind of peeps!), they provided an educational spin on things for the kids (& adults) when we were in the petting zoo pen.

I really wish I had snapped more pics of the animals, now that I think about it!

Yes – I got in there too (although there are not any pics ..sigh.. isn't that always the way!)

But I did handle a duck, I petted a pig, I rubbed a donkey and I caressed a horse.

E and his buddy watching as they set up the pen

The Cavie & his handler...It's a Rabbit/Kangaroo - weird

Awww! Baby ducks!

This picture just doesn't do justice for this ADORABLE goat! I want one!

When it wasn’t their turn in the petting zoo pen the kids could also play on the slide, go for a pony ride, color a picture at the coloring station or EVEN better… They could jump in the best $40.00 I ever spent – The BOUNCY CASTLE!

Pure joy!

Some of the best parts of the day

• My rain dance paid off - the weather was absolutely PERFECT – couldn’t have asked for better in May!
• My lil man & his buddies had a blast! 
• There was little clean up (as it was ALL outside and we served snack food.. although I wished I had made a few dozen of my chocolate chip cookies, rather than bought.. but, whatcha gonna do?) 
• It was an AM party (930-1130am) – so everyone was gone by noon! 
• E had a 3hr nap after the party! whoohoo
• We collected 40 pairs of shoes for the Little Footprints, Big Steps charity (in lieu of gifts)!!

All Birthday'd out!

Wordless Wednesday: Cheeky

CHEEKY!

Ipod & Instagram photo

Everyday Mama’razzi

I’m pretty sure I’m not alone when I say that since I’ve had my lil man I’m totally addicted to my camera!

Photo evidence: 

(SOOC shots)

Hubby and I decided that one of our last SPLURGES before the arrival of E would be a big screen TV for him and a DSLR for me.. (Needless to say I may have splurged a few times since... definitely not as big as Hubby & his Harley Davidson motorcycle.. Don’t get me started….That’s another post for another time…)

For the past 2 yrs I’ve been capturing our every move, pretty much daily on my Canon Rebel Xsi. Most of my pics up until the past couple have months have been in Auto/TV/AV mode – but lately I’ve stepped out of my comfort zone and into the M mode! SCaaaarRrryy!

I figured I couldn’t venture into M mode without a lil instruction. (You know me – a lil Type A like that! LOL) So I took a beginner course with a local photographer Kelly Gemmell. Her work is AMAZING! Her course went over the basics: ISO, aperture and exposure.

That course lit my photography fire even more, so for my birthday I treated myself to another course – this time online. I found this course via Layla’s site. If you haven’t heard of The Lettered Cottage (where have you been?) – you must check her out!!! The courses are taught by her hubby Kevin and his buddy Josh over at Shoot Fly Shoot. (I have taken course 101 so far.) They are REAL dudes who keep the course low key and it’s taught in normal person lingo (with small southern accents as a bonus!.) (PS I am not affiliated with them nor do I receive any compensation – I just loved the course) The course is ridiculously reasonably priced as well!!

Here are some recent M (mode) shots since absorbing some new knowledge - whatcha think?

Do you have the photog. itch too? Where did you learn – where has it taken you?